The characters, Laverne and Shirley, made their debut in a third-season episode of "Happy Days" titled "A Date with Fonzie" in 1975.
Originally the full title of the show was officially "Laverne Defazio and Shirley Feeney", " Laverne and Shirley" for short. At least that's what the opening credits said for the first couple of episodes.
In July of 1976, "Making Our Dreams Come True" climbed to No. 25 on the charts. The tune would make singer Cyndi Grecco a one-hit wonder. The single was co-produced by Jose Feliciano's wife, Janna Merlyn Feliciano, and released on the Private Stock label, which was known for celebrity crooners.
Penny Marshall was the sister of series creator Garry Marshall.
At the beginning of the series, Laverne and Shirley were portrayed as being only a few years out of high school (one first-season episode showed their three-year high school reunion). But at the time, Penny Marshall was 32 and Cindy Williams was 28.
Gilda Radner was considered for the part of Shirley Feeney.
After "The Odd Couple" (1970) ceased production, the apartment set on that show was modified to become Laverne and Shirley's apartment.
Michael McKean and David L. Lander were originally hired as writers/consultants. They wrote themselves into the show as Lenny and Squiggy, two characters they created in college. Squiggy was originally named "Ant'ny" but the producers wanted the two boys' names to coincide with the girls'. Squiggy was the name of an unseen character in McKean and Lander's "Lenny and Ant'ny" sketches.
Cindy Williams explained in an interview that the duo's hopscotch mantra in the title sequence was from Penny Marshall's youth. "[Garry's] the one who told Penny, 'Teach Cindy that little ditty you used to do on the way to school. We'll shoot that.'" Williams said. "Penny taught me 'Schlemiel! Schlimazel!' I had no idea what it meant and I'm still kind of shakey on it…. When Penny and her school chums would walk to school, they'd link arms and count off their steps, '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated!' Then they'd run and stop and start counting again. Garry remembered that."
A portrait of Penny's father was used as the portrait of Mr. Shotz that hung at the brewery during the Milwaukee years.
Garry Marshall has said in interviews that Cindy Williams and his sister, Penny Marshall, were immature during the production of "Laverne and Shirley" and did not handle stardom well, treating their coworkers in an abusive manner, and acting like prima donnas, endlessly fighting about who got more lines, etc.
Frustrated at TV shows constantly repeating who the characters are and what they do, Penny Marshall came up with the idea of Laverne having L's on all her clothes, figuring that would solve the problem. To her chagrin, they still had to say on a regular basis who was who and where the girls worked; she got tired of all the times Cindy Williams would say 'Laverne' in an episode.
Carole Ita White appeared in the first season episode "Dating Slump" as an unnamed tough girl who gets into a fight with Laverne at a pool hall. The next season, she began appearing as recurring character "Big Rosie" Greenbaum (of course, there's nothing to suggest they aren't the same character).
In 1976 Cindy Williams briefly walked off the show to protest Penny Marshall getting all the good lines. She returned two days later.
In the series' third and fourth seasons, "Laverne & Shirley" was #1 in the Nielsens, even surpassing "Happy Days."
Penny Marshall later directed Eddie Mekka, David L. Lander, and her brother Garry Marshall in "A League of Their Own."
Squiggy's real first name was Andrew.
The "Shotz Brewery" exterior and bottle line shown in the opening credits were filmed at the Anheuser-Busch plant in Van Nuys, CA. Cases with the red Budweiser "bowtie" logo can be seen briefly in the background.
“The Bridal Shower” is the first episode featuring Laverne’s nemesis Big Rosie Greenbaum played by Carole Its White.
Henry Winkler, who appeared in over 250 episodes of "Happy Days", played Fonzie on "Laverne and Shirley" in the very first episode. He was in four total episodes, the last one being the fifth season premiere.
Carole White played Big Rosie Greenbaum in thirteen episodes of the show.
Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams were not happy about the move to California in season 6, a decision which was forced upon them by Garry Marshall.
Penny Marshall is the only actress to appear in every episode of the series.
Trivia items from IMDB
Listen to my entertaining conversation with the hilarious Carole Ita White using the links below. Enjoy!
Episode 15 - HERE
Episode 16 - HERE
